Adjustable mounting for air doctor



April 25, 1961 R. w. PHELPS ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING FOR AIR DOCTOR Filed Jan. 13, 1958 INVENTOR. v

RICHARD W. PHELPS ATTORNEYS United rates atent U ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING FOR AIR DOCTOR Richard W. Phelps, Fulton, N.Y., assignor to The plack- Clawson Company, Hamilton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Jan. 13, 1958, Ser. No. 708,479

3 Claims. (Cl. 11863) This invention relates to paper machinery, and, more particularly, to means for adjustably mounting an an doctor operatively adjacent a supporting roll or other surface on which a web or sheet of paper having coating thereon is supported for evening and smoothing and doctoring of the coating material by the air doctor.

In the manfacture of coated paper (i.e., paper carrying on the surface thereof a layer or coating of nonfibrous material to impart desired surface characteristics to the finished product such as for fine printing and the like) a substantially fluent coating may be initially applied to the surface of the sheet or web of paper to be doctored, and, before the fluent coating is allowed to dry or otherwise set up into non-fluent condition, the coating is doctored or evened or smoothed by passing the sheet or web being coated adjacent an air doctor. By the term air doctor is meant a structure such as is disclosed in Patent No. 2,139,628 to Killey E. Terry, issued December 6, 1938 as apparatus adapted to deliver a relatively thin, elongated, jet or stream of air in a straight line or iibbon extending across the web or sheet being coated so that the jet or stream of air acts somewhat as a knife edge or doctor or scraper acting upon the fluent coating being presented thereto.

In the use of such an air doctor, it has been found advantageous if the air doctor mechanism is mounted so as to be adjustable with respect to the roll or other surface which supports the coated paper being doctored, and, particularly, if the angle at which the jet or stream of air impinges on the surface of the coating being presented thereto is adjustable. In this connection, it has now been found that further advantages are obtained with such adjustment and a better control end result is achieved if the air doctor is so mounted that its angle of inclination to the supporting roll is adjustable by angular movement of the doctor about an axis substantially aligned with the nozzle or lip thereon from which the air jet or stream emerges. It has also been found desirable if the air doctor can be quickly retracted away from the roll as for cleaning and/or threading the web around the roll and then returned to its previously adjusted and controlled position quickly and without the necessity of readjusting the various controls.

According to this invention, then, means are provided for mounting an air doctor of the character described on a coating machine for horizontal and vertical adjustment of the doctor with respect to the axis of a backing roll and for adjustment of the angle at which the air jet impinges on the roll. These mounting means also include provision for quickly retracting the air doctor away from the roll and for quickly returning it to its previously adjusted position without the necessity of readjusting the mounting controls.

This invention, then, has the foregoing as the principal objects thereof, and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following descrip tion, the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view of mounting means embodying this invention from one end of the air doctor;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the mounting means of Fig. 1 from the left side thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the air doctor in retracted position away from the roll; and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the apparatus in the position of Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawing, in which like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views thereof, a side frame member of a machine for coating paper is indicated at 10' and a backing roll over which is passed a web of paper with fluent coating thereon to be doctored as indicated at 11. An air doctor of the character disclosed in the above mentioned patent to Terry is indicated at p 15 as having an elongated bill-shaped nozzle portion 16 extending substantially across the length of roll 11 and a generally cylindrical portion 17 from each end of which extends a pipe member 18 by which the air doctor is supported and through which air is introduced thereinto for discharge through nozzle 16. As will be understood, the doctor 15 is supported at each end thereof on each side of the coating machine, and such supports being substantially identical or mirror images, only the mounting means at one side of the machine will be here described.

One embodiment of the mounting means according to this invention includes a horizontal supporting bracket 20 affixedto the main frame member 10 of the paper coating machine, bracket 20 having at the top thereof a track 21. A carriage 2-2 is provided with the basethereof configured to be slidably engaged on track 21 for horizontal movement back and forth with respect to the axis of roll 11. A bracket 25 is pivotally mounted by a shaft 26 at the top of carriage 22 for swinging movement thereon with respect to roll 11 as indicated by the two positions thereof shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This bracket 25' includes a forked portion 30 which extends toward roll 11 and carries a pivot pin 31 for one end of an arm 32. The

other end of this arm 32 is secured in supporting relation to the end pipe 18 of the air doctor as by means of a split collar 33-34 and a bolt 35, and these parts are so proportioned as shown that the lip of the nozzle '16 can be brought into accurate alignmentwith the axis of the pivot pin 31 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, the whole air doctor arrangement can be moved horizontally to and from roll 11 by sliding carriage 22 along track 21. Similarly, bracket 25 can be pivoted about shaft 26 to retract the air doctor arrangement away from roll .11, as indicated in the two positions shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and without moving carriage 22 on track 21. Also, supporting arm 32 and air doctor 15 may be moved angularly With respect to roll 11 by pivoting arm 32 about the pivot 31 in bracket 25 to adjust the angle at which an air stream from nozzle 16 of air doctor 15 impinges on the surface of a web of coated paper passing around roll 11, and with the axis of the pivot pin 31 aligned as described with the lip of the nozzle 16 from which the jet or stream of air emerges, such adjustment movement of the arm 32 will vary the angle of impingement between the jet and the roll 11 without changing the relative positions of the nozzle lip and the roll. It will also be understood that each of these different movements can be made separately and independently of the positioning and/or adjustments hereafter described for the other movements.

The horizontal positioning of carriage 22 on track 21 is adjusted and maintained by a screw 40, which may have a squared off end portion 41 to receive an adjusting key or wrench, engaging carriage 22 as 'at 42 and acting through 3 an upstanding bracket 45 for-positioning carriage 22. The angular positioning of bracket 25 about its pivotal mounting 26 is adjusted and maintained by positioning a set screw 50 in a nut 51 or other threaded socket therefor in carriage 22 so that the downward swing of bracket 25 about shaft 26 induced by gravity from the weight of the apparatus is limited by the position of set screw 51 since the lower portion of bracket 25 engages set screw 50 when in the lowered operative position shown in Fig. l, and adjustment of the screw 59 in the carriage 22 will correspondingly produce variation in the vertical position of the lip of nozzle 16 with respect to the roll 11.

The angular position of the supporting arm 32 about the pivotal mounting 31 thereof is adjusted and maintained by a threaded shaft 55 the lower endof which is rotatably engaged but axially fixed in cross piece 56 in bracket 25 as by means of washers 57 thereon. Shaft 55 is rotatably engaged through a short shaft 60 'rotatably mounted between ears 61 extending out from collar portion 34 so that, upon rotation of shaft "35, as by applying a key or wrench to the upper squared end 62 thereof, the distance between shaft 69 and cross piece 56 will be adjusted and maintained along with the angular position of supporting arm 32 about the pivot 31 thereof and the angle at which the air jet emerging from nozzle 16 impinges on roll 11. An adjusting stop is also preferably provided for the upper or retracted position of bracket 25 as indicated in Fig. 3. This includes a threaded screw 65 threaded through a rearwardly extending arm 66 on bracket 25 so positioned with respect to a cross shaft 67 in carriage 22 so that the lower end of screw 65 will stop against shaft 67 to limit the upward or retracting movement of bracket 25 as indicated in Fig. 3.

A fluid cylinder-and-piston arrangement 70 is provided for raising and lowering bracket 25 about shaft 26, and is pivotally mounted at 71 on a bracket 72 affixed to the main frame as by bolts 73. The piston-driven rod 75 is pivotally connected at 76 to bracket 25 to impart thereto, upon actuation of cylinder-and-piston arrangement 76, the desired upward or downward swinging movement around shaft 26.

As will be understood from the foregoing, there is provided mounting means of the character described for an air doctor arrangement providing for horizontal, vertical and angular adjustment for the doctor with respect to the axis of the backing roll and with one angular adjustment moving about an axis which is substantially aligned with the tip of the air nozzle. Also the air doctor can be readily and completely retracted from the backing roll as for cleaning, etc., and returned to its previously adjusted position Without the necessity of altering any of the present position controls.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable mounting assembly for supporting an air doctor having a discharge lip in operative relation with a backing roll, comprising a carriage, means for mounting said carriage in adjustably fixed relation with said roll, a bracket, means supporting said bracket in adjustably fixed relation on said carriage, a supporting member secured to said doctor, and means forming a pivotal connection between said supporting member and said bracket providing for rotational movement of said supporting member in an are centered on said lip to vary the angle of impingement between said roll and the air discharged by said doctor without changing the relative positions of said lip and said roll.

2. An adjustable mounting assembly for supporting an air doctor having a discharge lip in operative relation with a backing roll, comprising a carriage adapted for mounting in fixed relation with said roll, a bracket, means pivoting said bracket on said carriage for swinging movement to and away from an operative position with relation to said roll, a supporting arm secured at one end to said doctor, means forming a pivotal connection between the other end of said arm and said bracket on an axis substantially coinciding with said lip, and means for effecting controlled movement of said arm on said pivot axis to vary the angle of impingement between said roll and the air discharged by said doctor without changing the relative positions of said lip and said roll.

3. An adjustable mounting assembly for supporting an air doctor having a discharge lip in operative relation with a backing roll, comprising a carriage, means for mounting said carriage for generally horizontal movement with respect to said roll, a bracket mounted on said carriage for generally vertical movement with respect to said carriage, a supporting arm secured at one end to said doctor, means forming a pivotal connection between the other end of said arm and said bracket on an axis substantially coinciding with said lip, means for selectively adjusting said carriage with respect to said roll and said bracket with respect to said carriage to vary the relative positions of said lip and said roll, and means for effecting controlled movement of said arm on said pivot axis to vary the angle of impingement between said roll and the air discharged by said doctor without changing the relative positions of said lip and said roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENT oEETcE CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION Patent No, 2,981,224 April 25, 1961 Richard W. Phelps It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered pat- Int requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as orrected below.

Column 3, line 52, for "present" read preset Signed and sealed this 3rd day of October 1961,

3A L) test:

NEST W. TSWIDER DAVID L. LADD esting Officer I Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC- 

